It is with very great sadness that we learned of the passing of Mr Eric Roberts today. Eric was a wonderful man and a great friend of Spectacle Theatre. He served as a Trustee and as Chair of the organisation for over twenty years. He finally stepped down due to ill health in 2018. He provided great leadership , and was always willing to promote the work of the company. He led the company through many challenging times and was a loyal friend to many of the staff and trustees of the company. His sense of humour, humanity and passionate support for the Welsh language will always be remembered . Eric became involved with Spectacle through the involvement of his partner designer Angharad Roberts. Eric was born in Conway in 1944 and began his singing career studying Fine Arts at Manchester University before gaining a scholarship to study singing at the Royal Manchester College of Music. Eric began singing with the Welsh National Opera. Eric and went on to sing with a number of British companies including the New Sussex Opera, Longbourgh Festival, Handel Society Society, Grange Opera Park, Buxton Festival, Opera North Glyndebourne, D’Oyly Carte Company, and Opera 80 of which he was a founding member. Outside of the U.K., he performed at Opera Omaha, Royal Danish Opera, Flanders Opera, Teatro La Fenice, Spoleto Festival, and Opera Zud, among others.
His repertoire was also diverse with roles ranging from Figaro and Count Almaviva in “The Marriage of Figaro,” Prince Yeletsky in “The Queen of Spades,” and Bartolo in “The Barber of Seville” to Mr. Redburn in “Billy Budd,” Elviro in “Xerxes‚” King of Scotland in “Ariodante” and Lord Chancellor in “Iolanthe.”
Eric also performed in musicals including “Little Shop of Horrors,” Cracker Happy End,” and “My Fair Lady” and worked on Radio and TV as an actor, singer, and narrator.
Eric made a fantastic guest appearance for Spectacle Theatre singing the ballad of Knox Road in the Tonypandy Community play in 2010.
Eric will be sadly missed by all at Spectacle. Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to Angharad , Branwen and Ossian.